The August Forum was inaugurated on August 1 2 years BC. Augustus, following the example of Julius Caesar, decided to arrange his forum near Rome and perpendicular to Caesar's forum. The new emperor decided to turn Rome into a "marble city" from the old "brick city" and he started from his forum.
Today they come here to admire the ruins, which still inspire admiration of the greatness of the Empire of Augustus, the monumentality of architecture and the talent of architects who do not possess modern technical capabilities, but who created squares and temples that have survived millennia.
The August Forum differed from the Caesar Forum by the novelty of its architecture - if the latter is located alos a lot of shops, then in August stripped your forum market functions than stressed his solemn, festive character. At its Forum there were no fairs, but important meetings, ceremonies and meetings took place.
The Forum was fringed by a high thirty-meter wall that fenced the area from residential quarters that did not differ in beauty or grandeur of buildings. Another function of the wall is to protect the Forum from fires. It was August who introduced this rule into practice and around such important architectural complexes, such walls began to be erected such as, for example, around the Forum and the Altar of the World. Today, the remnants of the wall of the August Forum are a sample of ancient construction equipment that has survived to this day.
As for the entrances to the Forum, they were also distinctive. For example, if you enter through the front entrance of the Forum, which is today under a busy street, you could immediately see the facade of the temple of Mars the Avenger. The other two entrances are located on both sides of the temple - they exist until now. From the north to the Forum is a three-span arch, from the south - a one-span "Arch of Pantani."
The Mars Avenger temple in the center of the Forum is striking with a number of columns, a wide staircase and a catwalk lined with carrara marble . On both sides of the altar, located in the middle of the stairs, are two fountains . Some pilasters are preserved - protrusions in the wall with a base and a capital, conditionally depicting columns, on one of them one can see the image of the Pegasus horse . The Forum of August is not only the architectural but also the historical power of the Roman Empire, feel the soprich The stability to which we can thanks to the surviving ruins of this great complex .
Address: Via dei Fori Imperiali, Roma
| Mars Temple, Augusta Forum |
| Ruins of the Forum August, Rome |